The latest Government Budget has clearly signalled the current state of the healthcare system in New Zealand. It has been underfunded for years, and our ageing population is pushing it to crisis point. The question is whether the planned increase in annual funding from $31 billion to $34.2 billion will be enough to achieve the Government’s aim of ensuring ‘more New Zealanders have access to timely, quality healthcare’. The use of the word ‘more’ rather than ‘all’ is telling. The next decade will be challenging for those needing critical health services.

Staying healthy in the midst of a healthcare crisis will require some pre-planning. But there are ways we can take responsibility for our healthcare needs.

Choose a healthy lifestyle

As they say, prevention is better than cure. Our hospitals are overwhelmed with people suffering from chronic illness resulting from poor diet and exercise choices. Chronic inflammation is known to cause a number of common diseases and conditions including:

• Autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis
• Cardiovascular diseases
• Metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes and obesity
• Gastrointestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease
• Respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
• Cancer

Chronic inflammation can be reduced, or even eliminated, by following an anti-inflammatory diet (for example, the Mediterranean diet), increasing daily exercise and reducing stress.